Our Five Years
by kaylap1410
Summary: Clary Fray is getting divorced after promising herself her entire life that she'd fall in love forever. She had no clue that "forever" was only five short years. Jace Wayland had relationships figured out to a science until he meets a certain red-headed wonder that changes everything about him.


_Our Five Years_

_Clary Fray is getting divorced after promising herself her entire life that she'd fall in love forever. She had no clue that "forever" was only five short years. Jace Wayland had relationships figured out to a science until he meets a certain red-headed wonder that changes everything about him._

_Hello reader! Thanks for pressing on the link that led you to my story. It means a lot that I am able to share my words with an audience with opinions and views. If you ever have a question about anything I write in this story, feel free to ask because I will answer it._  
_A while back I started to write a fanfiction about Clace and I read it back and decided that it sucked. So sad but it really did. So I decided to try something new and here it is. I've spent almost six months on this chapter alone so I don't know how fast updating will be. By the next chapter I should have a better idea. I may or may not be continuing the old fanfiction depending on how I feel in the future._  
_That being said, this story is not 100% originally (obviously because I'm writing on fanfiction). Yes it is based semi off the musical The Past Five Years if anyone was wondering. Am I a musical junkie? Not really but I heard about the plot of it and it really interested me so here it is._  
_***This is really important. Please read or you'll be super confused***_  
_Let me explain one thing. There is going to be two POVs and each is occurring at different times. Clary's is going backwards in time from the divorce to the beginning._  
_Jace is going from the beginning to the divorce. If you think I spoiled it for you, I am sorry. I didn't really though._

**Day 1,825**

Clary Fray sat in her once cramped apartment, staring at her black coffee. The space was nearly empty now, with only a few boxes and her favorite chair left. Of course there were things that would also remain in the apartment forever like the paint stains in the carpet of the living room from her once countless hours of staring in front of an easel; a red Gatorade stain by the area where the couch was when she and Jace first moved in and he accidentally spilled his Gatorade on her causing Clary to pour an entire bottle of the tropic flavored drink on top of his head; a chip in the kitchen cabinet when she threw a fork at Jace's face and threatened afterwards to throw it in a lower, more sensitive area the next time; the remains of blood in the bedroom when Clary had lost her first child in the middle of the night and it was too late to do anything about it. These little things marked the two people who had lived in the apartment for those few short years. This apartment had experienced both the good times and the bad of their relationship. She knew that once she walked out the door, those memories would never be replaced by new ones that they'd create. The memories would always remain only a memory.  
Clary grabbed her coffee, now cold, and took a tiny sip before grabbing the pen in her lap. She moved over to one of the boxes where a couple of long pieces of paper sat. Quickly, she signed them in a haste. When she finished the last curly "y" on that final line, she let a tear escape her left eye.  
She was finally divorced.  
Clary had hoped it wouldn't end like this. Her parents had gotten divorced when she was only six and she remembered how ugly it was when they were fighting for custody over Jonathan and herself. They'd argued way too much and Clary would go to bed crying because her own parents couldn't have the fairy tale ending she had read about in books. So when she was old enough to start dating, she convinced herself that she'd be in a relationship built to last.  
She and her best friend, Simon Lewis had started seeing each other in high school. She hadn't really liked him that way but knew that he was a good guy and wouldn't do anything to hurt her. He did make her super happy and she loved being in a relationship with him; problem was, she wasn't IN love with him.  
When Clary went to college, she had to end it. She knew that it would never work out unless she was emotionally as invested in the relationship as he was. It was hard. Simon didn't talk to her for almost a year, but when Clary came back home after her freshman year, he told her that he was an extreme idiot and that he missed her friendship. They tried to act like nothing had ever happened but even then, she had caught him staring at her several times in the corner of her eye.  
Then Clary started looking around more. She figured that maybe the reason why she'd yet fallen in love was because she hadn't given people a chance to fall for her. She went on a lot of dates with a lot of men. One man in particular, she had started to see a lot. Sebastian was no good guy like Simon was but he kept Clary surprised. He'd take her out on dates unlike another she'd been on and she had a lot of fun with him. At one point, Clary thought that this was what love was. She truly believed she was in love with Sebastian. Until he cheated on her with some Victoria Secret model. That man-whore!  
But through Sebastian she had met Jace. Sure, she had to admit, he hated his guts at first. He slept with more women than Clary even knew. He'd always argue with her about relationships and called her the sluttist hopeless romantic ever. Clary teased that he'd make a lot more money as a male prostitute than a lawyer.  
After she'd ended things with Sebastian, Clary couldn't stop crying. She ran to the Lightwood house, where she'd spent most of her senior year at, and Jace was the only one there. She cried and cried in his arms. That's how they ended up having sex for the first time.  
Now they were divorced.  
Clary couldn't say she didn't try. She'd always cook dinner for him, bought sexy clothing (and underclothing), and tried everything she could to make him happy. And for the first years, they were. But she knew there was nothing more she could do to save her marriage.  
Grabbing her coffee and the divorce papers, she started to head out of the apartment.  
Clary paused at the door and took one last look back. She smiled, remembering every moment she spent there. Every picture she painted, every dinner she cooked, every kiss she experienced, every laugh she let loose, and every tear she cried. Her lips curved to a little smile as she closed the door.

Clary pulled her bright scarlet hair up into a messy ponytail as she stepped out of her tiny 2001 Honda Civic. She headed for that petite coffee shop located just out of the city. When she was still studying at NYU, she'd used to go there all the time but she hadn't been there for almost two years now. She smiled a sweet smile that emphasized her bright red lips and spotless white teeth.  
Clary was a pretty girl in a very untypical way. She was no Victoria Secret model due to her slightly too flat chest. Her beauty was subtle yet undeniable. As she walked into the coffee shop doors, several boys that were most likely in college, looked her way. She didn't flirt with them, though. Instead she went straight up to the counter to order.  
Surprisingly, she recognized the cashier from years ago. He used to flirt with her non-stop when she practically lived there. Clary had to remind him that she had a boyfriend all the time but now, she realized with astonishment, that doing so was no longer necessary. As she recited her order of another highly-caffeinated black coffee, she placed her elbow on the counter and flashed one of her winning smiles. Cashier reacted instantly. He stuttered responding to her and forgot what he was saying at least twice.  
"So, um... Clary?" he muttered nervously getting her name from her order, "there's this thing on Saturday for my-"  
"Sounds like fun!" she responded, cutting him off, "I'll just give you my number."  
Truth be told, Clary would have said yes even if he had a third eye. She needed to keep her mind off things like the fact that this was her fifth coffee today and it wasn't even two in the afternoon, or that she had ten boxes of her stuff in the back of her crappy Honda Civic, or the fact that Jace was most likely still in bed by now with another girl, or the fact that this was where they met five years ago. None of those things mattered anymore. She couldn't do anything to change them and make them not true. The past was the past and Clary needed to be looking for a new future. And maybe going out with more men would help her discover it. Either way, it helped her cope with the mess that she was in.  
After exchanging phone numbers with the cashier- Conner- she headed over to her table, smacking the heads of the immature college guys that were now whistling at her. They all reached up to rub them in pain.  
This was the table where she sat all those years ago, when she first saw his golden blonde head pop through that door. She hadn't met him yet or know of his connection to her douche of a boyfriend. He was just Jace and she was just Clary in the most simple sense. He'd say something funny and she'd laugh until tears poured down her face. When she finished drinking her coffee, he bought her another one. It was one of the only times where they were just friends with nothing more. She told him she had a boyfriend and although he was rather disappointed that he "wouldn't be getting into Mary Jane's pants", he respected her.  
Clary's relationship with Jace Lightwood began simple and pleasant. Of course it wouldn't stay there but as she sat there in the coffee shop, she was reminded of all the good times she had spent with Jace; all of the times that he had made her laugh to the point of breathlessness and all the times he made her cry tears of joy.  
Clary grabbed her sketch book, which she hadn't touched in years, and started letting herself out through the movement of her pencil. She didn't draw Jace like one would expect, but she drew two versions of herself. The one she drew of the Clary with Jace, with her eyes empty, her heart broken, and her shoulders stiff. The current Clary just looked free.  
Maybe she had to look at divorce like that. She had to find the positive things of no longer being with Jace. She flipped the page and started to list the things that came to mind.  
1. When he forgets to shave and kiss me it is like a razor on MY face.  
2. When he's drinks too much, he snores in his sleep.  
3. He eats way too many mangos.  
4. He flirts with girls right in front of me.  
5. I never have to watch another gun movie for the rest of my life.  
6. I never had to hear another comment about how attractive or sexy he was.  
7. He yelled at me like I was a dog  
8. He was never home  
9. He hated my job  
10. He'd never buy milk  
Her list went on and on. Her love had distracted her from remembering how much she hated all the little things about him that made her want to pull her hair out. He had good traits too- obviously she fell in love with him for a reason- but now looking at her page of cons and grabbing the pen that she used to sign the divorce papers a few hours before, it was hard for her to feel the same love again. She knew that it had been only two weeks since he left the apartment and it was a little too early to be over him. Clary had been in love with him for almost five years but maybe she wasn't anymore. Maybe this was the last day of her life with Jace in her heart.  
She smiled and realized that it wasn't too soon. She'd been falling out of love with him for months now. How could she have been so blind?  
Feeling slightly bolder, she packed up all of her stuff and ran up to Conner.  
"What time do you get off?" she asked, her lips pursed together with the tips slightly curving up. He looked so stricken by her bluntness that he almost dropped his drink he was making for some fifty year old lady who had walked in slightly after Clary had.  
"Umm..." he muttered unsure of he should respond.  
"Look I know you just asked me out for Saturday and that you've tried to get in my pants for almost six years now," she blurted out making Conner turn a bright red color, "but there is this party that I said I would go but I didn't want to go without a date and you're rather cute. I wasn't going to go originally but I've suddenly changed my mind. Point is, will you be my date?"  
Finally he calmed down and processed what she was saying. He smiled then and looked at her with glowing eyes.  
"I get off actually in ten minutes," he said with a wink, "And I would love to be your date."  
Clary smiled a genuine smile and walked back to her table.  
"I'll wait," she said.

"You got to be fucking kidding me!" Conner said as they walked into Isabel's raging party, "I had no clue we'd be going to this kind of party!"  
Clary smirked. That was Isabel for you. When she said that she was having a simple party on a Tuesday she meant she was about to have the party of the year until Friday came around and she'd top it. The Tuesday parties weren't a typical thing. Clary knew that Izzy was having a party mainly because of Jace and Clary's divorce but was too stubborn to admit it. Clary wondered if he would be here too. She hoped not.  
Conner put out his arm and she took it without hesitating. He was a really sweet guy, she found out. His father died when he was eight so he had been living with just his mom in California. Six years ago he told her that he wanted to go to College in New York and while he missed her dearly, he loved every single thing about the city.  
Clary liked him. He was simple, likable, kind; unlike her ex-husband. She smiled at him as they walked through the doors of the raging party.  
"Clary?" a voice called her the second she walked into the house. Isabel came walking over to her carry two cups of whine. By the way that she was walking, Clary knew that she was already drunk.  
"I was waiting for you! I was afraid that after everything you'd want to stay home and cry but here you are with a extremely sexy date!" she said while slurring her words and not able to look at either Conner or Clary in the eye.  
"Okay Iz. You've had way too much to drink," Clary tells her while wrapping her arm around Izzy's shoulders to support her. At that moment, Izzy's head leans over and she throws up all over her shoes.  
"Oops!" she said laughing. Clary's eyes moved over to Conner's.  
"I'm so sorry but I really can't leave her here like this," she said with worry.  
"No!" Conner replied, taking Izzy's other shoulder, "We should take her home."

~~~

**Day 1,826**

Clary woke up in the new apartment with a hand draped over her waste. She smiled as she remembered the night before. The irony of her hooking up with another man on their anniversary brought a sick smile to her lips. Maybe she was wrong, divorce wasn't all bad. She felt this incredible weight off her shoulders and the entire night she refrained from thinking about Lucas.  
After dropping Iz at her apartment, she had to apologize deeply to Conner for making their date rather uneventful. He paid the taxi fair for the trip to her apartment and one thing lead to another.  
They lay there with the only blanket Clary could find last night placed over their bare bodies...

Jace  
**Day 1-**

Jace Lightwood woke up to the worst hang over known to man. It eat his head like a pathogen consuming heathy cells. He knew he shouldn't have drank so much last night but he had just lost his Colombia scholarship due to poor grades and lack of effort and turned to alcohol for comfort.  
Stephan would kill him. Jace was Mr. Perfect in high school. Straight As, starting quarterback, dated the prettiest girls in school. High school was his kingdom. He had everything sorted out to a science; he knew what he wanted to and what he needed to do to get there. His parents were so proud when the letter from Colombia had arrived and he would be going to an Ivy League school for practically free. They wanted him to play football really bad. Colombia's head coach came down to Louisiana, where Jace had previously lived, and told him to rest his winning arm.  
College wasn't so easy for Jace. He'd expected it to be like high school but without his parents down his throat all the time, with hotter and more mature woman, and a lot more buzz. But most of Colombia's student body were dedicated on staying at Colombia and from early on he discovered that doing that was no easy task. The school was Ivy League for a reason. The classes were as hard as shit. In high school, teachers tried to make their subjects interesting but professors literally sat in front of a classroom and talking about shit that no one could possibly care about. Then their test would reflect none of what they taught but the textbook that someone forgot to tell Jace that he needed to read. And after he failed his first test and discovered why he spent almost a thousand dollars on textbooks, the books turned out to be more dull than Jane Eyre. It took almost four cups of coffee for him to stay awake for almost five pages. He rather pay someone to tell him what he needed to study or better yet take the test for him. Anything would be worth getting out of the pain of the books.  
Then, of course, football fell apart. Jace always figured that he'd become a famous football player when he grew up. Like the next Tom Brady or something. But Colombia's team was not average like the kids he played in high school. These kids spent hours on hours end to because the strongest, the fastest, the most athletic players they possibly could be. Jace was no longer the star player whom everyone idolized. His two hours in the gym everyday lifting weights, was considered lazy compared to how hard everyone worked. He didn't start that season like he expected when he was going there on a practically full ride scholarship. He didn't start any season.  
Next year, he didn't even play. Coach pulled him aside at the end of freshmen year. "Sometimes, players just don't adjust well" he told him.  
"Sorry kid but we need money for kids that are going to help us win".  
His parents were pissed. He now was going to an Ivy League with a tiny academic scholarship that the only gave him because they felt sorry that they left him hanging. His parents now had a full college tuition to pay.  
He was about to start his senior year of college without a clue what his major was. Even since he was five years old, football was all that he wanted to do. Now that chapter of his life was over, he had no clue what he wanted to do. Nothing seemed to interest him anymore. Nothing was appealing. It was almost as if he couldn't feel anything.  
It was a breezy November day and ice was still on the ground from the snow last week. Yet despite the cold weather, Jace wore only a pair of jeans, a messed up t-shirt that he took from his dad that said "Fuck me, I'm not Irish" but there was a huge hole on the "f" so now it was only "uck", and his high school football team sweatshirt. He was still slightly drunk from the night before and his eyes were red. Jace didn't care, though. Any girl that saw him wanted him in their bed.  
He didn't know where he was heading off to. He wanted to get away from everything and forget stupid Colombia, football, his parents, and his dumbass girlfriend who decided that it was more important to have sex with the entire football team than him. He had already gotten drunk as hell but now he was craving something different or someone different to make him feel something.  
As he passed this tiny mom-&-pop coffee shop, he stopped, thinking that a coffee would be an excellent way to rid himself of this goddamned hangover he had. That was the only reason he had to explain why he had stopped on the 19th of November, even though had recently passed two Starbucks and several coffee and donut stores on his ride from his apartment to there. He stopped. There was no explanation.  
The parking lot was almost empty except for a few cars that probably belonged to the workers of the shop. One car still had snow covering its windshield, leading the inference that it hadn't moved for five days. Pathetic.  
Inside the coffee shop there were four table and a counter where a young man, probably just starting his freshman year of college Jace guessed due to his Fordham University hat and his terrible case of ache that was exploding on his face, was running the cash register. Yet to Jace's surprise, one of the tables was occupied. The table on the far corner was more cluttered than Jace's bedroom, papers flying all over the place, coffee cups thrown into a messy tower, a stack of textbooks larger than Jace, folders, notebooks, and a cheap windows laptop. Behind all the clutter was a tiny redheaded girl who looked as though she hadn't slept in days. She wore a dull red dress with purple tights, a purple bennie, a black jacket and bright red boots. She was a mess, that was evident, yet the dorky cashier was staring at her like she was freaking Megan Fox. Jace looked closer to see what he was fussing over.  
She certainly wasn't ugly. Her bright red curls rimmed her face and bounced as she moved, her skin was pale with a lot of freckles but a pleasing shade, and her face was small and delicate as though she was one of those porcelain dolls his adopted sister, Isabel, used to play with when she was younger. But Jace didn't understand the hype over her until he reached her eyes. They were endless, shifting through several shades of green to glimpses of brown and gold. They were certainly one of a kind.  
Jace couldn't keep standing there acting like a pathetic idiot. He wasn't that type of man. He had to take action.  
In his best "I don't give a fuck what other people think of me because I know I'm hot" walk, he ordered a Carmel latte and moved to sit next to the girl.  
She was drinking black coffee; he could tell by the color. Jace always hated bland coffee even when he needed the extra energy or his hangover was too horrible to function. It was so tasteless and strong that he was never pleased without at least three spoonfuls of sugar and lots of creamer. So when he saw that all of her seven cups of completed coffee all were black, he smirked in disgust.  
"You know you shouldn't drink black coffee," he committed. She then looked up from her laptop screen to stare at him in astonishment, clearly forgetting that she was in the middle of a public coffee shop. She stared at Jace, probably just noticing that he was damn attractive, then the sides of her lips perked up into a thin smile that covered her teeth.  
"Why is that?" She asked, her voice soft and questioning.  
"Because it contains more caffeine," he answered matter-of-factly. His answer must of amused her because she let out a real laugh showing off her perfectly white teeth that made Jace conscientious about the small chip in his.  
"You know that makes no sense. It is the same type of coffee with or without sugar and cream."  
"Yes but the sugar and cream consume more space causing there to be less coffee resulting in less caffeine," Jace answered, pleased with his reasoning.  
She laughed and nodded. "I guess that makes sense in a twisted sort of way."  
Jace's coffee was ready now and the freshman was at the counter waiting for him to pick it up. The boy was watching them, obviously pissed off that he didn't have the guts to do what Jace was doing right now. Too bad for him.  
Jace turned back to the redhead with a grin. "That's me. I'm Jace, by the way," he told her as he reluctantly stood up and grabbed the latte, not moving his eye from her. Jace now had a better view of her. Sure, she was lacking in the chest department but up close there was no denying she was beautiful. This was knew to Jace. Most of the girls he screw were beautiful from afar but never quite live up to their beauty when truly looked at. Redhead's looks were subtly and striking. Jace instantly want her in his bed so he'd be able to admire them from up close. Maybe he'd see the flaws.  
"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers. Especially men who look as though they only wish to sleep with me," she smiled. Damn, she was good.  
"Well I just told you my name, didn't I? Technically we're not strangers anymore. To prove it, I'll even give you my number," he responded, reaching his hand out waiting for her to give it to him.  
She bit her lip and stared down at her phone on the table with question. Jace was surprised that she didn't reach to grab it at the suggestion of meeting up later; every girl had before her. Was it possible that Jace was now loosing the ability to make any woman sworn? Or was it possible that this girl sitting next to him was beyond just looks?  
"Umm... I don't know if that's a good idea," she responded, biting down hard on her bottom lip. She said no? Jace took another look at her and within seconds she seemed to get much hotter. Her hair, that Jace originally thought was just messy and uneven, seemed to curl perfectly down her back framing her face. The color of red shined down on him with exuberance. Her breasts, which he originally were nonexistent, now seemed to pop out at him and might as well sit in Jace's face. And her eyes that were already captivating to begin with seemed to be impossible to even think about looking elsewhere. Jace licked his lips. No girl turned him down and he wouldn't let her be the first.  
"Then let me take you out of here," he muttered in a deep sexy voice, moving his face closer to hers, their lip now millimeters apart. She looked up at him and finally looked like she was turned on when she said, "I can't, I have to study."  
Shut the fuck up! Jace screamed in his head, clearly frustrated. He would have her in his bed! He moved his face away from hers and stared at her with accusation.  
"How long have you been here, in this exact spot?"  
"Two days."  
"Exactly! Two days straight of nothing but studying. They say that you only really absorb the first two hours or so as well. I say that anymore studying right now is pointless. Go out. Take a break. Have fun, goddamn it! The work will still be here for you when you come back," he tried to reason with her.  
"Jace, I have a boyfriend," she explained and suddenly everything clicked. Oh well!  
"Damn, I was looking forward to getting in Mary Jane's pants. Oh well!" Jace kicked up his feet on the chair next to them, relaxing now. Suddenly her perfection evaporated and she became flawed again. It's amazing how lust could change your perception of people. Clary sighed at him with a smile. Normal Jace would have left then but he had nothing better to do. Jace reached over and took a sip of her coffee.  
"Hey! I've known you for about five minutes and you've already stated your opinion of black coffee. Please keep to your own drink!" She said, taking her coffee back from him.  
"You never told me your name?" Jace muttered looking towards where the coffee shop had a selection of bagels, taking to decide whether he should buy one or two.  
"Why do you care? I'm not going to go out with you."  
Jace looked to stare at her, raising one eyebrow, waiting.  
"It's Clary."  
It was awkward then. Jace was no longer hitting on her and she didn't play much to any conservation he tried to start. She bit her lip and looked down to her cluttered table until all of a sudden she stood up in a quick haste.  
"I have to go..." she spurted out, reaching out to shove all her papers into her backpack. She then stack her empty coffee cups before throwing them in the trash. Finally, breaking her rushed pace, she turned to look at Jace and smiled a sweet, innocent smile.  
"I like my coffee black like my soul..."  
And with that she left, leaving him with a smile and surprising, for the first time in what seemed like a long time, hope.  
He reached down and took a sip of his coffee, already cold. He always hated cold coffee...


End file.
